Charlotte – Matt Ryan threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns as the Atlanta Falcons battled back from a 16-point deficit at halftime to defeat the Carolina Panthers 31-23. Atlanta’s defense pitched a shutout in the second half and forced two interceptions by Cam Newton. Ryan would toss three touchdowns in the second half to lead the Falcons to an eight-point win over their division foe.
The Falcons drew first blood in this one by scoring on their first series of the game but the Panthers would go on a tear after that. Carolina would then go on to score 23 unanswered points including a sack of Matt Ryan in the endzone for a safety. Two of Carolina’s scores would come off of big plays in the second quarter. DeAngelo Williams would burn Atlanta’s defense with a 74-yard touchdown run while Greg Olsen would take a short pass from Newton and turn it into a 44-yard scoring play.
Atlanta’s defense led by Sean Weatherspoon would force the Panthers to go three-and-out on their first series of the third quarter and set the tone for the rest of the game. The Panthers next two series would end with interceptions and the Falcons would score on a field goal and a 31-yard touchdown pass to Jacquizz Rodgers.
The Falcons would carry that momentum into the fourth quarter scoring twice on drives of 90 and 74 yards. Both scoring drives would result in touchdown passes to Julio Jones giving the Falcons the win.
Jones caught three passes on the day for 104 yards and two touchdowns, the last touchdown coming off a slant pass that Jones took the distance for a 75-yard score. The Falcons improve to 8-5 on the season but have a short week to prepare for the Jacksonville Jaguars who they will face in the Georgia Dome on Thursday.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for In Between The Tackles and also writes for both The Penalty Flag and Outside The Redzone. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @rhall_tpfb.
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